The Bonfire

As Damien walked out of the forest with the deer around his shoulders, Gretchen ran along beside him. He put the deer down on the ground by the fire and the soldiers carried it off to quickly butcher.

"Congratulations, Gretchen. That's quite a big stag you nabbed yourself." Hazel patted her leg and picked up Gretchen's bag from the ground. Gretchen took the strap in her teeth. "Now run along and get dressed. I want to hear all about it."

"Gretchen!" She turned around to see Damien waiting for her. He nodded towards the smith's shop. "Come on."

Gretchen followed Damien to the building and he waited outside while she changed into her clothing. As she sat on the table putting on her boots, Damien came in and shut the door behind him. "You did well out there, my love."

Gretchen looked up from her boot as she zipped up the side. "It's not my first hunt."

He fisted his trembling hands as he licked his lips and slowly crossed the room. It was dark, but the fire outside glowed in the glass and lit up their faces. "Do you remember now, Gretchen?"

Gretchen dangled her legs over the side of the table and knitted her brows together as she turned her head to the side slightly. "Remember what?"

Damien stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes. "Me. Who I am."

Gretchen shook her head no slowly. ""What are you talking about, Damien?

Damien shook his head as he took her hands in his, then he looked up into her eyes. " Think, Gretchen. Look at me. See me."

Gretchen looked away, but he grabbed her chin in his hand and pulled her face back so she met his eyes. "You know me, Gretchen. You saw it the first time we met in the ruins, remember? It was on the tip of your tongue.Just say it.”

Gretchen closed her eyes and nodded as she spoke to Damien in her mind. Damien smiled and said, “Yes...mate.”

Damien closed his eyes and pushed his forehead to hers. "Oh, Gretchen. I've been waiting so long for you. So long." He grabbed the hair at the back of Gretchen's head in his hands then crashed his lips into hers. Damien parted her lips with his tongue as he deepend their kiss. Gretchen opened her legs and Damien wedged himself between them as his hand traveled down to her ass. He pulled her hips against his and felt the warmth from between her legs call out to him.

She pulled away from him and looked around his face. "All this time, you knew?"

Damien nodded and dragged the backs of his fingers down her cheek. "I've seen you in my head a thousand times over these long years, Gretchen. If I could travel, if I knew where to look...I would've claimed you already. I would've been watching over you since the day of your birth."

"Why didn't you tell me before now?"

He traced the curves of her neck with his fingers, then looked back to her face. "You wouldn't have believed it.You scarcely believe it now."

"I've been so awful to you."

Damien shook his head no. "You were in pain. I'm your safe place, Gretchen." He put his hand on her chest over her heart and said, "You knew deep inside you that I could take it, that I would never leave you alone no matter how hard you fought."

She gave him a crooked smile and cupped his face in her hands. "So what happens now, Damien?"

He smiled and kissed the end of her nose. “Now, my love...your kill awaits us.”

Gretchen laughed out and sucked back her tears. "How long do we have to hang out here before we can leave?" She gently dragged her fingers down his chest and looked over his body. "I just want to be with you. I don't even care about any of this stuff going on out there."

Damien smiled and glanced away before looking back into her eyes. Damien wanted to take Gretchen there in the smith's shop right now, but he was waiting for the signal from Daniel. Everything had to be done with precision. "Enjoy the bonfire for now. You and I have our whole lives to be together."

As Damien and Gretchen left the shop, Damien wrapped his fingers around hers and led her back to the fire. Haldir sat across from Daniel and Rosemary and watched as they came back together. He smiled and pulled on his beard.

“I wasn’t sure about this pairing, honestly. I never thought wolves and witches belonged together. She seems happy though.”

“Maybe it’s time to find your mate now, old friend,” said Daniel. “Then you can stop meddling in everyone else’s affairs.”

Haldir turned around and chuckled. “People love my advice Daniel. Besides, I don’t have a mate. I’ve been looking for over a thousand years now. I've traveled all around both great big world's and I'm telling you, she doesn't exist.”

Daniel smirked and shook his head. “You weren’t looking in the right places, Haldir. Have I ever told you something that wasn't true?”

Haldir looked at Daniel and pulled his beard again. He knew Daniel only ever spoke the truth, no matter how unpleasant. “Thank you for that.”

“You don’t ever need to thank me, Haldir. My debt to you can never be repaid, besides we’re family now." Then, he leaned forward and clanked his cup against Haldir's bottle. "As we always should have been."

Haldir nodded and said, “Quite a fucking thing, isn't it?”

Daniel smiled as he watched Damien and Gretchen hand in hand. “Yes, it is."

Haldir looked down at the ground and said, "You know, I've seen some thing's that will be. Not like you and yours do, of course, but I have a good idea about what's coming. Is there anything I can do? Anything that can make a difference?"

Daniel looked over his family as they laughed and chatted around the fire then he nodded his head. "You know, you think that you don't have much impact on the lives around you, but look at all this? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have Rosemary or my children or any of this." He nodded towards the castle. "This kingdom would still belong to thieves and vandals. Our heirs will save this whole world, Haldir, and none of that would be if you hadn't been for you. Everything you have done has made a difference to everyone, whether they know it or not."

Haldir looked back to Gretchen and Damien who were sitting together on a bench surrounded by Jason, Rhett and Hazel. A vision suddenly came into his head and he turned back to Daniel.

Daniel nodded because he had seen it too. “It's alright, Haldir. We'll watch over her. I’ll send a raven to Eliphas and my best riders right away.”

"Agi!" Daniel yelled out as he looked over his shoulder.

While Daniel gave orders to Agamori, Haldir wiped his tears from his eyes and pushed himself up. He took a deep breath and rolled out his neck as he tried to regain his composure. Haldir walked to Gretchen. “Can I borrow my number one girl from you for a second, Damien?”

Damien read Haldir’s thoughts and his smiling face fell. He took a ragged breath and nodded as his eyes teared up. “Gretchen, come,” said Damien as he stood and took her hand, then followed Haldir to a quiet spot.

“Gretch, I need to leave for a while. Some things came up and I need to take care of them immediately,” said Haldir.

Gretchen sensed that something wasn't right by the tone of his voice. "What is it?"

Haldir bit back his tears and looked away. "Nothing for you to be concerned about tonight, child. Enjoy yourself, Gretch." Gretchen nodded then Haldir leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Be good,” he whispered in her ear then he backed away a few steps and misted away.

Damien looked down at Gretchen's worried face. He'd have to tell her eventually, but now wasn't the time.Things were in motion now that couldn't be stopped. He turned her around then started back to the fire. “So, tell me about Christmas. What do you do? How does it work?”

Gretchen crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.“How does it work? It’s a holiday."

Damien put his arm around Gretchen.“Yes, my love, I know that. What do we need to do to have it?”

She shook her head and chuckled as she imagined Daniel in a Father Christmas costume.“You want to have Christmas?”

He looked down in her eyes and smiled. “I want to give YOU Christmas. I've seen your memories of it, the tree and sitting in front of the fireplace. They're good memories, I want to give you that too."

When they returned to their group, Damien wrapped his arms around Gretchen from behind and pulled her close to his chest. "We're going to give Gretchen Christmas, although, I don't have the faintest idea what that entails, so any help would be appreciated."

"Awe yeah!" said Rhett as he nodded. "Football, presents, turkey dinner. I'm hip, Gretch. Don't even worry about it. I'll get you a tree so fucking big you won't even believe it."

Hazel laughed and said, "Enough beer for you, my love. You won't be worth a damn to me later." Then, she looked at Gretchen. "That does sound fun, we can make ornaments and decorations. It'll be great."

"No football though, that sucks," Rhett lamented.

Gretchen pulled down her eyebrows as she she thoguht about it. "Why not? There's enough fellas here for a whole league. I'm sure they'd love to play. You should set that up Rhett."

Rhett pulled his lips down and pushed them out. "Yeah. Yeah. I think I will. What the hell. You going to be my cheerleader, Haze? I'd like to see you shaking your ass in one of those little skirts."

Damien sighed and rolled his eyes. "Rhett, please. I don't need that image burned into my mind."

Rhett and Hazel looked at each other and laughed. Damien pulled Gretchen closer to him and buried his nose in her curly hair as it blew in the breeze. He smiled while he listened to them talk ,then he heard his fathers voice in his head. "It's time, Damien. He's ready." Damien looked back over his shoulder and Daniel nodded at him.

Damien took a deep breath then leaned down in Gretchen's ear. "Are you ready to go, my love?"

Gretchen looked up into his eyes and swallowed before she nodded. Damien took her hand in his then said, "Excuse us, everyone." Then, he led Gretchen away from the fire.

"Goodnight you two," Hazel said in a sing songy way as she smiled. Gretchen looked back to her and Hazel winked as she cupped her hand to her mouth and said loudly, "Have fun!"

Once they got away from the crowd, Damien pulled Gretchen into his arms and pressed his forehead against hers. "I love you, Gretchen. You must believe me. I love you with every bit of my soul. Everything I have ever done or will ever do is for you."

She searched his face for clues. Damien isn't an emotional man, his behavior sent shivers down her spine as his sudden fear and uncertainty radiated from him. "Damien, what's wrong? What's going on?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side. "Nothing is wrong. Nothing has ever been more right then it is at this moment." Damien put his hands on the sides of her face then pulled her to his lips. He kissed her gently as he wrapped his arms around her again and they disappeared into a black mist.






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